Labor’s ‘disinformation’ nuclear scare campaign hypocrisy slammed after countless childish memes shared

Three-eyed koalas, countless Simpsons memes, jokes about radioactive waste and nuclear-mangled family dogs formed day one of a crude campaign from Labor and other opponents of the Coalition’s signature energy policy.

In a grim pointer to the “mother of all scare campaigns” that Australians can expect in coming months, senior Albanese Government frontbenchers launched childish social media posts and then took to the airwaves to defend their reductive approach.

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh, pictured, was slammed for posting a photoshopped Blinky Bill with three eyes.

“Andrew Leigh is a smart guy. He’s an economist and has a PhD. He sits on the Labor Government’s frontbench, and he put a post up with a Blinky Bill, the koala, with three eyes and a nuclear power plant behind him,” shadow assistant defence minister Phil Thompson said.

“My question to Andrew Leigh and to other frontbenchers and to the Prime Minister is, is this the scare campaign you really want to go down?”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the blanket anti-nuclear stance was hypocritical given the Albanese Government was supportive of the AUKUS submarine deal and called again for a “mature conversation” about the contentious proposal.

“He’s part of a government that signed up to put our submariners on to the submarines with the nuclear reactor. He’s putting out photos of three-eyed fish in all of this sort of juvenile conduct, which frankly should be condemned,” Mr Dutton said of Mr Leigh’s post.

“From the Labor Party, we get them posting cartoon figures and the rest of the nonsense so hopefully we can have an adult conversation.”

When asked about his post on ABC radio in Sydney, Mr Leigh was unapologetic and said: “Peter Dutton can’t tell a fish from a koala”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese referred to the nuclear power plan, for which the Coalition has yet to release any costings, as a “fantasy”.

“Instead of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, this is ‘Peter Dutton and the seven nuclear reactors’,” he said on ABC Radio.

Labor backbencher Peter Khalil later tweeted a picture of Mr Dutton photoshopped into a Snow White book cover.

“Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan isn’t even a policy, it’s a fairytale. There are no costings, no community consultation, and no support from Premier’s to have these expensive plants in their States,” he said.

Inspired by The Simpsons, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan posted a picture of a three-eyed fish in the water near a proposed plant in her State saying: “‘The Liberal Party want a toxic and expensive nuclear reactor in Gippsland”.

Several unions posted memes featuring people in hazmat suits and with nuclear waste.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley called out the propaganda from Labor and said it was disgraceful that a government proposing disinformation laws was responding in such a childish manner.

“Anthony Albanese promised Australians he would lift the standards of the Parliament and instead we have seen Labor act like a bunch of student politicians,” she said.

“While members of the Labor Party peddle mis-truths on social media they have a bill before the Parliament that would make spreading ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ an offence under the law — this is hypocrisy writ large from Labor.

“Australians are up for an adult conversation on nuclear energy, and they are being let down by this bad Labor Government.

“Honestly, it’s time for the lot of them to just grow up.”